Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-01-10
sOROSIs ON DOMESTIC SERVICE.
Discussing the sufferings OF Sewingwoms n
and the Remedy.

u
, culiarly sweet and bird-like whistle hroSi
. on the ear, following the intricaciesso
an operate melody. One would Save
thought to surprise a hilarious lusEhing
party starting rather early in the day OIL
lolllty or some unsteady incliusd waiter
of duty. But upon peering intsthe large
reception room whence the soEnd came
a party OF ladies was found crOwding
every part of the room. The members Of
Sorosis and their guests were listening
to Mrs. Alice Shaw's wonderful whistling,
and she whistled in a delightfully."- digni-
fled way that admitted no doubt of its
Drcpriety Women were uaurping two
OF mems sole prerogatives, the club and
the whistle.
The ladies' of Sorosis had Just finished
one of those delightful lunches which
Delmonico has furnished them monthly
for nearly twenty years In addition to
Mrs. Shaw's Whistling solo, Mrs. Mar
garetha kirpal, Mrs. Harriet Webb and
Others had entertained those present
Now was to come the special business of
the DAY, the discussion of the timely ques-
ton which had gathered these women to-
gether, viz: Resolved, that the suffrr-
inSs of working would DE relieved
Ii large proportion of them could be in
duced and helped to enter the homes of
/ our country as domestic servants -
Sorosis is emphatically woman's club,
full Of earnest women to whom all that
concerns their sex is of moment. and
whose mission. is the Or ,adening Of the
feminine mind. To this end S0rosis dis
cusSes everything outside Of religion aCd
politics-tUr woman'5 suffrage is
fol Ar,bS ..rE
woman.
Mrs. Ada Metcalf Brown, chairman O.!
the committee on house and home, pre-
sented the subject. She argued that the
general feeling among women il that
domestic work for pay is degrading. and
Women'whO felt themselves of honorable
birth feared to lose caste and disgrace
their families II they accepted menai DO
sltions. For this reason Of all others,
such women will accept any work bat
domestic.
Mrs. Helen Campbell, whose papers
on the "Prisoners of Poverty" in recent
issues of the Tribune have attracted 81
widespread attention, followed Mrs. /
Brown with g paper on "Woman's Re |
spOnsbiIity to Womsn." She advised |
women to examine their own attitude to- |
ward workingwomen, beginning INSIDE
their own door, then extending abroad !
the charity which begins thus no5ly at |
Rome by refusing their patronage to |
those whose treatment Of women does
not conform with humanitY'5 laws and
feminine humanlty's laws at that
As many members Of Soro5is discussed |
this matter it seemed possible that the
oppoTtune arrival of the millennium
might be the only thing to settle this
vexed question of womeu's work. TIE
discussion appeared to run more ami
more in circle from the ignorance and
inc pability Of women to serve, 10 the
inability of women to govern those
willing TO attempt such WORE. In tdis
discussion the housekeepers had decid-
l@ly the worst of it in the Judgment of
the speakers. The reform must begin at
the head If the house before the "help-
eTs" (the word servant wHs decidedly
Obi ed to il this land of "no classes") !
could be i'm proved upon, and American
women would work in homes for American
Given the right kind of home and
the right kiui Of helper would rise up TO
tllit. Unfortunately, it was suggest q, the
class for whom this appeal was now
made were all too frequently the poor
whose uufitnesS for house-work
would be as great IS their unti:ness for
all work except the guiding OF machine
through "slop-w0rk" that takes no
thought. Women, 1t was argued, almost (
without exception, dislike the drudgery
u housew0rk. II a man engages worker
4 his office, mis- duties are defined and
attended TO, or mis- position is lost to him,
out if this mans wife hires one "helper," ,
The pure business view of the matter .
seems to be lost. The work is never de-
lned, end feelings not business are apt TO
De the governing principle. In sddi ion ,
10 dlslikirg the drudgery, women also
want freedom; they want to go about;
hey want to see the world. They crave
some change or brightness in their hard, ,
cold lives
Mrs. Sarah c. Ostrom, Mrs. R. L. =,
Jiapp, Mrs. Eliza Archer Connor AMI =
Mrs. Isabella Beecher Hooker took part :
Il this discussion. 1t was suggested that ,
me ameliurstion of women was in the
hands of women if they would but treat
hem fairly, and it was also suggested
hat tens of thousands of women would
,ndure any privatiOn rather than work 5
or women and endure their caprices. 8
Mrs. Beecher Hooker urged the send !
ng of circulars to the hardest worked 3
lass on the globe, farmers wives, incit- {
ng them to st.ike for the eight hour sys-
em, which would make places for any +
lumber Of "helpers."
Mrs. Clara Neyman urged the estab- 7
ishment of Industrial schools for the gen I
raj education If women in all branches I
II work, and bureaus of industry pre- Z
ided over by the best women, IS in Ger /
many and England. An advertisement I
vas referred to in a London paper read |
ng, "Lady Florence Dixie cordially rec Q
'mmends scullery maiden who shows I
apacity for attempting better work. I
ladies' can call on Lady Lady Florence
or further particulars" This indicated t
hat some women in England took the il
Engagements of servants out of their own v
hands and managed them as .
matter of conscience. a
Miss Dale Owen, granddaughter Of
Robert Dale Owen, spoke strongly for
cooperation as the only means OF c
melioration. She declared that women
you'd 60 into cooperative kitchens as
hey would go into factories, and IS the
ay would come when much if not all of
ousework would be done on the coop h
rstive plan, it might be well to hasten h
ne happy time. -
The Lydian Monarch stin fled Up. Il
NEW YORK, Jan. 9-The Monarch L
.jnp's Al ffirnlt:oS are still in an unsettled u